


Montage?

by 77smallbats



Category: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Genre: Gen, parental figures, wow I've turned into my dad (metaphorically)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/77smallbats/pseuds/77smallbats
Summary: While training Wulfgar some old memories resurface for Drizzt (missing scene during The Crystal Shard).
Relationships: Drizzt Do'Urden & Wulfgar Son of Beornegar
Kudos: 2





	Montage?

**Author's Note:**

> (Sorry for any inaccuracies, I haven't read this part of the series in a couple of years, just skimmed the scenes I had in mind) My frustration with R. A.’s lack of meaningfully exploring the friendships between his characters has reached a boiling point. Shoutout to my dear neurodiversity discord channel, for giving me the encouragement to actually write this instead of perpetually complaining about it.

Drizzt ducked under the whirl of a battlehammer, lunging under the guard of his opponent to tap the young man with the flat of his scimitar. Wulfgar had improved tremendously, building upon the foundations of strength and control from a decade working in the forges, but he still had the tendency to throw himself too wholeheartedly into each attack, transmitting his intentions and leaving himself vulnerable while he recovered his balance. Drizzt called a break, letting the young man get a drink of water before assigning him a new set of drills, to correct some of the flaws in his form Drizzt had noted during the fight. He let Wulfgar get into the flow of the drills, offering corrections and praise as merited, and once the rhythm was established, began yelling out attacks made by imaginary opponents. An odd itch of familiarity flickered in Drizzt’s mind. After executing a particularly inspired overhand swing that flowed seamlessly into a low dodge and a second attack towards the hypothetical opponent’s knee, Wulfgar turned Drizzt with a grin of pride, that only grew brighter at the corresponding smile from the drow. Wulfgar took only a moment before returning to his drills with renewed determination. As Drizzt watched, the familiarity intensified. He tilted his head slightly, trying to draw on whatever thread of a memory this was, but it kept evading his grasp. With a slight shake of his head, Drizzt did his best to dismiss the feeling, making a note to consider it later on.

The thought went unevaluated.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drizzt called back to Wulfgar, laughing slightly as he pinged off a boulder to leap to the next. He’d admit, he was being slightly unfair with this race. In the disrupted terrain left by a recent avalanche, his slight frame and agility was a distinct advantage, where he could easily move across areas that would destabilize if Wulfgar ran across them. It would do the young human good though, he thought, especially if he remained in the north and mountains like he intended to, where someone else would always have the edge when it came to speed. Like Guen, for example. She would enjoy this game of chase, the air cold and clear. The dual side of that clear air and open terrain was the lack of anything to shield his eyes from the sun. Any of the sparse trees in the area had been felled by the tumble of rock and snow. The light would probably get its revenge with a headache later, but it did level the playing field between him and Wulfgar, and hopefully prevent the younger from making any missteps that would lead to an injury. A rock shifted under Wulfgar’s foot, forcing him to pause and regain his balance. After a quick glance back to make sure he hadn't been hurt, Drizzt took advantage of the momentary distraction. Dodging into the fallen canopy of a pine tree to obscure his actions, he produced the onyx figurine from his pocket, and reached out a call to his oldest friend. The sleek dark panther Guenhwyver crept lightly out of a mirage in the air, which vanished behind her. She walked low to the ground, ears pricked and alert for any danger, picked up on the gaming mood from Drizzt’s smile. “I think it’s about time you two were introduced,” Drizzt told her quietly, with a friendly scratch under the dense fur of her chin. Guen the favor with a soft headbutt and a purr gravelly enough to rattle bones, before slipping away with only the slightest shush of pines needles. Drizzt leaped out the opposite site in a burst of sound and motion to draw away any attention. Wulfgar had regained his balance and continued the race, but in his excitement over having the lead, entirely failed to notice the silent shadow until it had pounced, entirely bowling him over from the impact. He was by no means a small man, but his efforts to struggle free were futile against the massive panther’s weight. An edge of panic started to rise, only to dissipate as he heard Drizzt laughing. Guen rumbled a purr and licked the side of Wulgar’s head, sandpaper tongue slicking a piece of blond hair into strange spikes. “Just met him, and already decided he's your kitten, huh,” Drizzt called, unable to contain his amusement at the undignified sight. Guen seemed to have no intention of shifting from her perch, despite Wulfgar’s increasingly halfhearted attempts to dislodge her. As he approached, Drizzt said with feigned seriousness “You need to maintain your situational awareness, there’s no way of knowing what will creep up on you out in the wilds”. Hardly as he had uttered the words, the previous day’s feeling of familiarity was back, far stronger than before, and with it, a tangle of emotions as he realized the source. The words he had said, the cadence of his voice -even down to the edge of laughter underneath- echoed back to another time, another language that he hadn't spoken aloud in decades. His father had said that same phrase to him, had called out the same way Drizzt had earlier, instructions and praise intermixed throughout that decade of training. In that dark hall under the earth, Zaknafein had had that smile to his voice. Never fully open, as emotions were obvious vulnerabilities in the city of Menzoberranzan, but Zak had trusted his son enough to let him hear.

And the final familiarity from earlier clicked into place. He had smiled like that as a child, smiled like Wulfgar had, looking towards his mentor for approval, and finding it there. 

Zaknafein was long gone, buried deep in the long memory of the earth. But as Drizzt coaxed Guen into moving and offered a hand to help Wulfgar to his feet, he wondered how much of his parent lived on, echoed in Drizzt. Silently, he thought, _“I wish he could have seen this. I hope I’m teaching Wulfgar well. I hope he’d be proud”. _Inside he felt like a youth again, turning towards his mentor in hopes of an approving smile. And Zaknafein smiled back.__

**Author's Note:**

> I know big cats can’t purr, I just thought it would be cute, don’t come for me. (Catch me projecting my own cats’ personalities onto Guen).


End file.
